A love of teaching GROWS
Pablo Sanchez, Reporter & Designer
Summer camp sparks future career in agriculture for HutchCC instructor Switching classes from face-to-face to online only can be a challenge, but when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country, schools were to do just that. Many instructors at Hutchinson Community College had to change their traditional classroom methods, including Kent McKinnis, Agronomy Instructor/Crops & Soils Specialist. “I enjoy the day-to-day interactions with the students and other staff,” McKinnis said. “I try to keep in touch with the students through email, text, and even some phone calls. It takes a good deal of work to get all of the class material set up in the Learning Zone in a manner that helps the students get as close as an experience as possible to in-person classes. It is nice that we do have a way to complete the semester even with everything going on.” McKinnis started his teaching career when he started to teach Boy Scouts at the age of 14 every summer, from May to August. “I took the job because I wanted to hang out at camp all summer instead of being home, I discovered that I enjoyed teaching. I taught nature, environmental science, insect study, mammals, and forestry merit badges for three summers,” McKinnis said. “I then was put in charge of the horse program and taught horsemanship, animal science and advanced riding until I graduated college.” After completing his master’s degree,
McKinnis worked for Kansas State University as an Extension Educator in Phillips and Reno counties. Enjoying the weather and being outside with friends, family, or even yourself can provide a peace of mind, and doing it every now and then can be great for mental health. College life for McKinnis was pretty smooth sailing. “I was in college in the first half of the 1990s. We still got in line to register for classes, the internet was not going yet. The last couple of years in college, we started using email and the internet some. Almost everything was done on paper and in person,” McKinnis said. He attended and received both of his degrees at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas. which was located in the piney woods of east Texas. He was a member of Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity while he attended college. McKinnis’ classes offer a wide range of also taking care of plants, however, since the pandemic hit, the number of people in one setting was limited to 10 people. That affected how the greenhouse operates and the students are now required to have face masks and must stay at least six feet apart from each other. Every semester the agriculture class has a plant sale in the spring selling a wide variety of plants and vegetables the event was
held Thursday. The class ended up planting twice as many from last year and ended up selling out of vegetables and herbs quickly. “We appreciate everyone that came to the sale and supported us” said McKinnis. The money they raised will go to collegiate farm bureau leadership conferences and other student activities The thing to keep in mind is that the semester is almost over, and students and faculty both can power through the situation. Students are encouraged to reach out to instructors if things are getting rough. If students feel more comfortable, HutchCC has counselors here to help get through this troubling time.
▼ Kent McKinnis, Agronomy Instructor/Crops & Soils Specialist, is shown on a horse while working a summer job he had in college running a horse program at a camp in east Texas. Photo provided by Kent McKinnis
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